Pro-Ethanol Group Defends Biofuels

Growth Energy, a new pro-ethanol group has rejected allegations by an anti-poverty group blaming biofuels for high food prices and world hunger in developing countries.

Jin Chon, a spokesman for Growth Energy, said in a statement that food prices continue to rise even as the price of commodities like corn have fallen by 50 percent, proving that ethanol production has little impact on the global food crisis.

According to government data, American growers are growing enough crops for food and fuel, Chon said, adding that USDA estimates exports of U.S. corn during the current market year at 2.25 billion bushels, or 130 million bushels larger than exports during the 2006-07 market year and the largest in 18 years.

Chon was reacting to a report by ActionAid arguing that U.S. and European policies supporting biofuels production were undermining efforts to feed the world’s hungry, including the poorest women mentioned in an anti-poverty study.

The report by ActionAid, an international aid agency that fights poverty in developing countries, also asked U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to suspend ethanol fuel targets and develop an alternative energy policy.

Growth Energy’s Chon said using biofuels as a scapegoat for the global food crisis misses the mark in finding true solutions to help people in need.

Leaders of Michigan agricultural organizations said Thursday that the government should not have a “knee-jerk reaction” based on last weekend’s water ban in Toledo due to fertilizer run-off in Lake Erie.
Read More

Two CropLife 100 retailers — South Dakota Wheat Growers (ranked No. 11) and North Central Farmers Elevator (No. 19) — have entered into a Letter of Intent to unify the two companies into a newly named cooperative.
Read More

Pinnacle Agriculture Holdings — ranked No. 6 on the CropLife 100 — has established a new retail location in New Castle, IN, which will operate as part of Pinnacle's Providence Agriculture brand.
Read More

Two CropLife 100 retailers — South Dakota Wheat Growers (ranked No. 11) and North Central Farmers Elevator (No. 19) — have entered into a Letter of Intent to unify the two companies into a newly named cooperative.
Read More

Pinnacle Agriculture Holdings — ranked No. 6 on the CropLife 100 — has established a new retail location in New Castle, IN, which will operate as part of Pinnacle's Providence Agriculture brand.
Read More

The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program has announced Luckey Farmers Inc.’s Berkey Farm Center in northwest Ohio has been added to its growing list of nutrient service providers to achieve certified status.
Read More